Patterson's mother, Zahra
Patterson, said "it wasn't until someone stopped them —the witnesses —
otherwise, my son would have been left for dead."

Patterson was taken to
the emergency room at Woodhull Hospital to be treated for his injuries. He's
expected to have additional surgeries in two weeks to reattach the damaged
retina.

Patterson said he had
been drinking on a party bus with friends before the assault on Flushing Avenue
in the heavily Orthodox section of Williamsburg, but has no idea why he was
beat up.

"Maybe the way I
dressed, I was on the block," he said. "I want these people to know
they can't put their hands on anyone and get away with it, and think just
because you have on certain attire you can get away with certain things. We're
all equal here."

The NYPD says the hate
crimes unit is investigating. Patterson was drunk the night of the assault, and
it took several days to piece together the facts, they say.

Assemblyman Dov Hikind,
who represents the Borough Park section of Brooklyn but is a vocal advocate for
Hasidic Jews across the borough, said "something obviously happened"
to Patterson, but the allegation was "bizarre."

It "sounds so out of
character," Hikind said.

Zahra Patterson said four
witnesses have told police what happened, including the driver of a bus who
jumped in to stop the assault.

"It's
shocking," said Zahra Patterson. "It saddened me to even know that
this level of hate exists so close to home, that a group could be so angry
about whatever."